I won't lie, I was on the fence about keeping my 335i before that article. Once I saw that, even if it wasn't true, this car makes me worry too much. It's nice to have piece of mind when you own a car.

I wanted a 335 so bad because of the power but got an 06 330i instead just because I was scared of any costs I would be hit with if the turbos went south

How that work for you?
2 yrs out of warranty - had some issue, that required to fix. Some of them I do my self, some-my mechanic. But the same go to all 3 of my cars - 2 of which is Japanese.
Cars get more complicated.
any way - 330i get in this list by mistake.
I can point your attention to another article from CAR AND DRIVER

I have to say I am completely unsurprised. Having read this forum for 5 years, and the non-stop issues with the 335, I would avoid it as well.

A 335 out of warranty would scare the bejeezus out of me.

...don't be scared, all BMW's have to meet the same reliability standards ...and I can assure you the 335 is reliable, at least as reliable as a 330. I did own 3 e9x so far ( an 2006 /330 and two 335 2007/ 2009) so I know what I am talking about. Don't spend too much time on these forums and you'll be fine.

...don't be scared, all BMW's have to meet the same reliability standards ...and I can assure you the 335 is reliable, at least as reliable as a 330. I did own 3 e9x so far ( an 2006 /330 and two 335 2007/ 2009) so I know what I am talking about. Don't spend too much time on these forums and you'll be fine.

I am glad I held out for the N55 E92. No problems so far, nearly 9,000 on the clock.

N55 on one hand is more complex (has Valvetronic) and on the other hand is using cheaper components compared with N54 (use a cheaper solenoid-type injection system vs. piezo injectors in N54) to keep the cost/price down. The two Mitsubishi turbos in N54 have been replaced by a Garrett twin-scroll turbo in N55.... the rest of the hardware is the same.

Meh, they slag on the New Beetle as well which is basically a warmed over A4 Golf; I bought an '02 GTI 1.8T and my mom (yes, really) is still driving it today and loves it.

I hope I get the same service out of my 335i...

I've thought about a JGC too as my '99 Cherokee is a little short on creature comforts but then again it is still dead nuts reliable after I caught up on the maintenance after I bought it last year, it's paid for, doesn't need anything but a trailer hitch, and since when were trucks supposed to be comfortable anyway? (I did add an electrochromic mirror, heated outside mirrors, and a decent stereo and speakers. Do miss having bun warmers though.)

Actually, my two CPO cars were originally sold here in Texas, so I probably didn't get yours. My current one only had 3200 miles on it when I bought it in January of '08. I think a lot of this reliability thing goes to how the car is treated early on - but there are always going to be some "lemons", no matter what make and model. No citrus fruit so far here after 40K miles, though!

I was planning to get an '05 or '06 E46 M3 with about 60k miles and after much searching ended up buying a CPO '09 335i 6MT coupe with 43k miles for about the same money.

I'd read all the same articles, Bimmer magazine buyer's guides, board posts, etc. as you guys had. I went as far as to do a phone consultation with BMWCCA's tech advisor, Mike Miller, who is the author of the Bimmer buyer's guides.

This cleared some things up. Most of the Bimmer articles are written months before the magazine is released. It turns out that Bosch built a new factory in Germany to build HPFP's for the N54... probably to avoid getting sued by BMW over all the trouble they had caused with the Chinese made pumps that continually failed. The latest version HPFP has cured the problem. Notice you don't hear about N55 HPFP failures?

Also, most people tend to lump any vehicle problem in the same "unreliability" category, whereas I make a distinction. A problem (like a MIL light) that it noticed but the car can still be operated normally is a minor problem. Same thing for R2D2 arm seat belt assist not handing you the seat belt.

Getting stuck somewhere with a car that won't run is a major problem. Engine or suspension components failing in use - major problem.

So... in three months and 4k miles with my 335i (including a 900 mile road trip L.A.-Monterey) here's what I've had to deal with:

•Seat belt assist did not grab the seat belt - minor problem - fixed in one day, under warranty

•MIL light illuminated again - two months later - ran rough on startup and deactivated a cylinder - warmed it up gently, stopped and re-started, ran normal the rest of the way. Problem did not re-occur but MIL light stays on.

Took my car in two days later at 8:30 am - MIL was misfire 1-2-3, dealer replaces injectors on those cylinders (leaking) - I have the car back by 6:15 pm.

I consider all of the above to be minor problems except for the injector leak. But even so, my car was drivable and the electronics warned me something was wrong. My total down time was about 16 hours for both problems combined. And both times they washed my car.

***Knock on aluminum***

One thing I can tell you from my E39 experience: When our cars get older, and the price drops lower into the reach of younger enthusiasts, you will notice something: Power trumps reliability for these guys. I had an I-6 E39 which is WAY more reliable than a V8 E39. Not to mention a big difference in fuel efficiency.

But despite all the threads about valley pan gaskets, oil leaks, coolant leaks, fuel leaks, $3000 timing chain jobs on the M62 V8's, whenever anyone put a 540i with Sport package up for sale - especially a 6MT version - guys lined up to want to buy the car. I-6 cars took much longer to sell.

Same thing is going to happen to the 335i's. The N54 is a cult engine. The N54 has it's own website! There will always be someone who is ready to buy your 335i off you when you are ready to move it on.

Actually, my two CPO cars were originally sold here in Texas, so I probably didn't get yours. My current one only had 3200 miles on it when I bought it in January of '08.

...it was a joke, obviously...still, who got Bill's car might not find the link amusing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roundel335

I think a lot of this reliability thing goes to how the car is treated early on - but there are always going to be some "lemons", no matter what make and model. No citrus fruit so far here after 40K miles, though!

...same here, close to 50k and my 335 is going strong, no problems so far. I use only German Castrol and maybe for this reason there are no signs of valve fouling that many are complaining about. Only the noisy dried out door gaskets had to be replaced a couple of months after I purchased the car. I didn't have this problem with the two E9x I leased previously. Actually I didn't have any issues at all with any of them and for this reason I decided to purchase in 2009 the E92 I am driving now. The HPFP was working perfectly fine but BMW of NA decided to have the pump replaced anyway, a couple of months ago. Pretty much that's it. My car is stock, no alterations or additions, washed occasionally, driven daily...not a garage queen.
Meanwhile a colleague who purchased a brand new Acura RL in the same year (09) is at his third gearbox replacement.

...it was a joke, obviously...still, who got Bill's car might not find the link amusing.
...same here, close to 50k and my 335 is going strong, no problems so far. I use only German Castrol and maybe for this reason there are no signs of valve fouling that many are complaining about. Only the noisy dried out door gaskets had to be replaced a couple of months after I purchased the car. I didn't have this problem with the two E9x I leased previously. Actually I didn't have any issues at all with any of them and for this reason I decided to purchase in 2009 the E92 I am driving now. The HPFP was working perfectly fine but BMW of NA decided to have the pump replaced anyway, a couple of months ago. Pretty much that's it. My car is stock, no alterations or additions, washed occasionally, driven daily...not a garage queen.
Meanwhile a colleague who purchased a brand new Acura RL in the same year (09) is at his third gearbox replacement.

Third gearbox? Automatic or manual? That's not what I'd call reliable. Like you, every oil change on my 07 E92 has been done at the dealer's using the OEM recommended oil, and I haven't seen any symptoms of buildup, but then I haven't removed the intake manifold, either. No rough running or anything like that. Working from home keeps the car in the garage except for short trips during the week, but I take it out on longer trips over the weekends and at club events (once a month, usually 200+ miles). Running it hard keeps it happy - I have software update plus intercooler, oil cooler, exhaust, and cold-air intake, and it seems to like being driven hard. I hope to keep this car for awhile, so fingers crossed that nothing "big" breaks.

Look at all the issues thaty 335i owners have had with their cars. Even with the extended warranties people still have to fight to get their waste gates fixed. It is a shame that such an expensive car that is supposed to be so refined has so many issues. This is a great article to force the engineers to do better in the future models. We all love our BMW's but I cannot defend the company for issues that are outright obvious.

"Amazing"? Your position is more "amazing" than anything...."we all accepted" ....w ...hat???? So you and a very small but vocal minority on this forum ...you're are "we all" now?

Your sample size of one is amazing.

There's a reason the 335 makes all of these lists. It's not just coincidence. And JDPower has a much better idea of what "reliable" is as compared to industry standard, as opposed to you or me. To claim your personal experience trumps that is ignorant.

It's been hashed and re-hashed a million times over, here and on other forums as well. Some people never have problems (which also can be said of any car ever made), some people have lots of problems. That's why you can't use small sample sizes to determine stuff like this, but I'm sure you knew that.

I'm glad you've owned one or two of these without issue, and I'm glad your buddy did too, but it's not magic or some sort of conspiracy that this car ends up on all these lists. Do you get that?

There's a reason the 335 makes all of these lists. It's not just coincidence. And JDPower has a much better idea of what "reliable" is as compared to industry standard, as opposed to you or me. To claim your personal experience trumps that is ignorant.

It's been hashed and re-hashed a million times over, here and on other forums as well. Some people never have problems (which also can be said of any car ever made), some people have lots of problems. That's why you can't use small sample sizes to determine stuff like this, but I'm sure you knew that.

I'm glad you've owned one or two of these without issue, and I'm glad your buddy did too, but it's not magic or some sort of conspiracy that this car ends up on all these lists. Do you get that?

It is from BMW so I think it is a CPO...They are asking for 30k. Too much?

First rule of buying anything expensive: Don't *think*, *know*. Not all used cars sold by a BMW dealer are CPO. If you're considering it make sure you know (in writing) the in-service date as any CPO (if it exists) goes only until six years from the original in-service date.

Is 30k too much? Difficult to say with no other information than you've given. Options? Condition? Service history? Carfax/Autocheck history? Lok at kbb.com, nada.com, edmunds.com -- also look at cars.com and autotrader.com for comparable for-sale cars to see where this ranks vs the other opportunities. Look at what people are asking on Craigslist and eBay. Look at completed sales on ebay. There are a LOT of resources for you to come up with a value estimate.

There's a reason the 335 makes all of these lists. It's not just coincidence. And JDPower has a much better idea of what "reliable" is as compared to industry standard, as opposed to you or me. To claim your personal experience trumps that is ignorant.

It's been hashed and re-hashed a million times over, here and on other forums as well. Some people never have problems (which also can be said of any car ever made), some people have lots of problems. That's why you can't use small sample sizes to determine stuff like this, but I'm sure you knew that.

I'm glad you've owned one or two of these without issue, and I'm glad your buddy did too, but it's not magic or some sort of conspiracy that this car ends up on all these lists. Do you get that?

+1

So true. It's amazing how deluded some people on this forum are. Somehow if you've never had a problem your car is bulletproof and everyone else is the exception to the rule. Let's ignore all the published reports from other organizations that show the 335 is horrific with regards to reliability.

There's a reason the 335 makes all of these lists. It's not just coincidence. And JDPower has a much better idea of what "reliable" is as compared to industry standard, as opposed to you or me. To claim your personal experience trumps that is ignorant.

It's been hashed and re-hashed a million times over, here and on other forums as well. Some people never have problems (which also can be said of any car ever made), some people have lots of problems. That's why you can't use small sample sizes to determine stuff like this, but I'm sure you knew that.

I'm glad you've owned one or two of these without issue, and I'm glad your buddy did too, but it's not magic or some sort of conspiracy that this car ends up on all these lists. Do you get that?

...ignorant? I might be better informed than you as I spent a good chunk of my professional life working with statistics. I would suggest you go and check HOW these surveys are made and WHO's paying for them, ok? .... Familiarize yourself with this subject before jumping to conclusions.
JD Power and Consumer rep are relevant for people who are interested in PERCEPTIONS. The real world unbiased reliability studies based on real data are rare because these are extremely expensive and difficult to achieve (car manufacturers do not supply reliability data to anyone) and for this reason there are only a few. ADAC in Germany has one...in this study too some Japanese brands are shown to be more reliable than the rest but the percentage that separates BMW from the winners is quite small. Going through a study like this shows that EACH CAR, W/O EXCEPTIONS HAS HIS OWN ISSUES, and in general the more complex the car is the chances to have something going wrong are higher.

The BMW 335 "reliability issue" in NA is complex and has to do with a multitude of factors. I would start by mentioning the BMW service quality (...that I agree, in NA is horrible) and a very specific customer type that many times is an "enthusiast" that tweaks and destroys the car integrity and passes his problems to others shortly after, with the gas quality to mention just a few. I also suspect that a lot of frustrated individuals blaming BMW on this forum bought a BMW and cannot afford one. They have been able to acquire the car of their dreams but the total cost is outside their financial comfort zone and this creates stress....some of them would like their car they worked so hard for to last forever... They’ve replaced their simple Toyota’s or Honda's with a much complex car that cost twice as much and for this reason alone they DEMAND the car to be bullet proof reliable. When something goes wrong with their beloved car they jump to their computer looking for answers....feeding each other's frustrations that have nothing to do with BMW ... and contaminating others that have no problems with their cars...this is how this paranoia works. The fact they cling to this forums posting thousands of negative comments harassing anyone who has a different experience (instead of trading in their "awful", "unreliable" cars and ending their "nightmare") confirms this. You also witness hilarious situations where BMW is blamed for the quality of their turbos or AC that are 100% Japanese...
Toyota’s and Honda's have their own reliability problems, some quite severe. Still, their customers are happier because they have more realistic expectations as their buying decision was more rational, they've removed the dream factor from it together with the fun factor... Check with someone who works in the Service departments for Toyota and Co. ... (some of them have made their voices heard on this forum...), they went through issues more serious than the HPFP for example but the perception that their cars are somehow indestructible - remains. Even the Lexus flagship model had serious flaws and big problems with their V8 (had a worldwide recall)..Still, if you read what JD Power says the PERCEPTION among Lexus customers is that these problems do not exist…? I don't have time to deconstruct all the rationale behind this for you... it is a losing battle… people like you generally have a tendency to favor information that confirms their preconceptions and maintain their beliefs.....again, you need to...READ, think...if you can.
End of story.